Sadiq Khan has issued a rare and “very humble” public apology after the District Line suffered a wave of catastrophic failures during the opening week of the Wimbledon, causing misery for thousands of tennis fans and commuters.
Speaking at Mayor’s Question Time on Friday, Khan admitted that London’s transport system had offered a “horrendous experience” to passengers who had done “the right thing” by using public transport. The disruption, he said, risked damaging London’s international reputation and undermining future confidence in the Tube network.
“I want to apologise to Londoners and visitors to our city who have faced disruption,” Khan said. “If you are a visitor doing the right thing by using public transport, and you have had a horrendous experience on the District line, the impression you could be left with is extremely damaging.”
Worst reliability in over a decade
The Mayor revealed that reliability on the District Line—measured by the percentage of planned train kilometres delivered—had collapsed to just 69% during the first week of the tournament, the worst performance in more than 10 years. By contrast, Wimbledon fortnight usually sees figures above 90%, with only two dips (to 87%) in the last decade.
The meltdown led to repeated overcrowding at key stations including Southfields, Wimbledon Park and East Putney, while dozens of services were cancelled or suspended without warning. A quarter of all District Line trains failed to run as planned on the first two days of the Championships alone.
Problems cited include three separate track circuit failures, a small fire on the line near Southfields, and wider signalling problems across shared TfL and Network Rail infrastructure.
Who’s to blame?
While Transport for London (TfL) has faced mounting criticism for months over the condition of the District Line’s Wimbledon branch, Khan stressed that Network Rail—which controls the line south of Putney Bridge—is responsible for key infrastructure, including signalling and power.
“Some of the issues are the responsibility of Network Rail,” Khan said. “TfL collaborates closely with them, but they weren’t quick enough to respond to problems.”
TfL’s Chief Operating Officer Claire Mann met with Network Rail to address failures, and the Mayor’s deputy for transport, Seb Dance, raised concerns directly. Khan also discussed the issue with Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler called the breakdown a “huge embarrassment in the middle of the Championships, during one of the Crown Jewels of British sport.”
TfL officials have also met with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which has long relied on the District Line to carry thousands of spectators to the tournament each day. Around 14,000 fans per day use Southfields station alone, one of the line’s busiest points during the fortnight.
AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton is expected to demand investment in the line at follow-up meetings after the tournament ends.
Network Rail responds
In a rare public statement, Network Rail apologised for the failures and admitted that repairs to the fault zone were proving “more complex” than expected due to its location.
“We’re sorry to any District line passengers whose journeys have been affected,” said a spokesperson. “Track circuit failures are critical to our signalling system. When they fail, signals default to red for safety, which drastically reduces the number of trains we can run.”
The agency said it had increased staff presence for the finals weekend and was working to identify the root causes of the ongoing signalling failures.
Looking ahead
While the worst of the disruption appears to have passed, with extra staff deployed ahead of the men’s and women’s finals, the incident has intensified long-standing calls for greater investment and accountability on the Wimbledon branch of the District Line.
With the AELTC expansion plan still in legal limbo—and the number of visitors expected to grow—many fear this summer’s chaos may become a regular feature unless TfL and Network Rail address the weaknesses exposed this year.
